Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: All of the above
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
Water is one of the most important substances on Earth and has several characteristic physical properties that students learn in early science education. Knowing these basic properties helps in understanding chemistry, biology, and environmental science. This question checks awareness of how pure water is described in terms of taste, odour, and electrical behaviour under normal conditions.
Given Data / Assumptions:
- The question focuses on physical properties of water, not chemical reactions.
- The options refer to taste, odour, and ability to conduct electricity.
- We assume pure water at normal laboratory conditions.
- The question asks whether all listed properties can be considered correct in basic general science.
Concept / Approach:
Pure water is described in textbooks as a colourless, tasteless, and odourless liquid. These are standard physical properties related to human senses. Regarding electrical behaviour, perfectly pure water with no ions is a very poor conductor of electricity. However, in practical situations, even small amounts of dissolved salts provide ions that allow water to conduct electricity to some extent. School level general science usually mentions that water can conduct electricity, especially when there are impurities. Therefore, it is acceptable to consider all three statements together as properties that can apply to water in real world conditions, with clarity on the context of purity for taste and odour and presence of ions for conductivity.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that pure water is often defined as colourless, tasteless, and odourless.
Step 2: Confirm that in the absence of dissolved substances, water does not have a distinct taste or smell.
Step 3: Consider that water can allow electric current to pass when ions from dissolved salts or minerals are present.
Step 4: Recognise that general science teaching highlights this practical ability of water to conduct electricity.
Step 5: Since all three statements can be accepted as physical properties in the usual teaching context, select the option that includes all of them.
Verification / Alternative check:
Experiments in school laboratories often include simple observations where distilled water shows minimal conductivity while tap water or salt solution conducts electricity more easily. At the same time, taste and odour tests with distilled water show that it lacks a strong taste or smell unless contaminants are present. General science books summarise these observations as water being tasteless and odourless in pure form and capable of conducting electricity when ions are dissolved. This combination supports the all of the above option as correct.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
- Choosing only tasteless ignores the equally important property of being odourless in pure form.
- Choosing only odourless leaves out the standard description that pure water also has no taste and can conduct electricity when impurities are present.
- Choosing only the statement about conducting electricity neglects the sensory properties that define pure water in basic definitions.
Common Pitfalls:
A frequent misunderstanding is to think that water always conducts electricity strongly, without considering purity, or to believe that pure water is a perfect insulator, ignoring the practical case of natural water. Another mistake is to remember only one or two properties instead of the full set of basic characteristics. A good way to remember is to recite that pure water is colourless, tasteless, odourless, and, in the presence of dissolved ions, capable of conducting electricity, which justifies selecting all of the statements in this question.
Final Answer:
All the listed statements describe physical properties of water, so the correct answer is All of the above.
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